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Ezo
Ezo, (Japanese: 蝦夷, Ezo, also Yezo; Ainu: Ainu-mosir) also known as the Ezoan Kingdom, is a country in the Greater Japanese Empire. It's capital and biggest city is Sapporo , and it is ruled by king Kenji of the Yukida dynasty. It is a rich, powerful autonomous country, dispite being part of Greater Japan. After the Boshin war, it becomes part of Japan, and with the king of Ezo also being the shogunal emperor of Japan after the coronation of Yukida Kenji in 1881, it even acts independent from Japan, having the power to overrule Japan, but not actually doing it. Its official language is Japanese, with Ainu-itak being the official religious language. The official religion of the country is the Kamuyir-branch of Shintoism, also known as Ainu-shinto, with its religious centre at the Kim'un-toh temple, on the nakajima island in lake Toya. The Ezoan currency consists of the yen, subdivided into 100 mon. History of Ezo The Heian period (1375-1467) During this period, there was a unification of Ezo, with military and government officials from Sapporo crossing the country, to define the borders of Ezo, to officially subject the other provinces to the domain of the Yukida dynasty, and to declare Ainu tribes who still lived on their own to be part of the Ezoan people. While the Gempei war was raging in mainland Japan, the Ezoans managed to set up a few trading ports in the Date domain, eventually becoming communities or even small colonies of Ezoans in Japan. The Sengoku period (1467-1549) This period is home to the famous Yukidan Conquest, which lead to the unification of Japan under Yukida Kenji's command, who became the new Shogun of Japan in 1541. Only Kyushu and Shikoku, which was home to the Fukaro, extrareynaerdians, remained untouched by the onslaught Kenji had caused. The Momoyama period (1549-1731) In this period of peace, the Yukida Shogunate established many trade routes between Japan and Ezo, from which both nations flourished. In Japan the wealth kept growing, and in Ezo the riches were bigger than they already were before. Many technological progress was made in the latter country, and the cities grew and modernised. This led to the fact that Ezo became known as a modern utopia to the Japanese. The Bakumatsu period (1731-1753) During this period, trade between the Seresians and the Ezo was established in 1731. The first Seresian ship moored in Oshima, and carried goods from Tibet, Russia and Anatolia. Although the Seresians were not granted the rights to trade at first, it did not take long for them to talk the Ezoans into establishing the trade. However economy grew, most Ezoans disliked their extrareynaerdian trade partners. The Japanese Emperor wanted to establish trade with the Seresians as well, as he wanted Japan to have this products from far too, despite Kenji warning him not to do so. After trade was established in 1742, the agreements began to favor the Seresians, and as the economy falthered, The Emperor decided to close the gates to Japan once more in 1746. But the Seresians, who had become mighty by the trade, disagreed with that, and gave their answer. Numerous coastal bombardments followed, which angered both the Emperor and Kenji. However, as Kenji had tried to warn the Emperor before, there began to come Shogunal sentiments across northern Japan. The Emperor wanted to subdue this uprising popularity of Kenji, and gathered his own army from the clans who remained loyal to him, mainly in the south, and in central Honshu. This unchained a war between Shogunals and Imperials in august 1747, known as the Boshin War. Because the Shogunals were on the winning side, the Imperialist forces in the south were somewhat weakened. This caused Nuramasato Hanzo, a Kyushuan Fukaro, to see his chance to conquer Japan. His army cut right through the Imperialists, maybe even too fast, for by the time he had reached the gates of Kyoto in 1752, which had been occupied by the Shogunals by then, he acquired knowledge of the fact that his own people back in Fukuoka had started a revolt. This forced the Fukaro forces to draw back to their own land, giving the Yukida forces space to settle his power decently. This took away Nuramasato's opportunity to conquer Japan, and caused peace to be established in 1753. The Sakoku period (1753-1878) However trade with Seresians was illegal, there were still numerable Seresians who had settled in Japan. As they had lived there for quite some time, they didn't want to leave so easily. Kenji accepted their opinion, but Japan's economy could not continue like this, with so much Seresians, who did not follow Japanese traditions or speak the Japanese language. In 1801, he set up a law which obliged them to learn the traditions and language, in order to give them a second chance. However, this was not appreciated by most of the Seresians, and they refused to participate, and sometimes they even revolted. This resulted in a major tax rise for foreigners, which angered them even more. As Seresians terrorists began to do their work around 1807, so came the answer of the Japanese. Countless little groups of anti-Seresians arose, the most noteable being the Shiroishi Hanneko Kyokai (Shiroishi Anti-Cat Movement) in Sapporo, led by a masked figure called Katsugan. This man got more and more sympathy of the Sapporoans, but was not supported, nor opposed by the Yukidas. However, to keep the Seresians safe from these movements, and to keep the Ezoans safe from Seresian terrorism, Kenji decided to put the Seresians into designated, walled districts in Sapporo in 1808. Nobody could leave or enter these districts without official authorization. However, as the unrest among the Seresians was not tamed, and because Katsugan seemed the only one who could put an end to this danger, Kenji declared Katsugan the official leader of the Sapporo Urban Armed Forces in the night of 15 April 1809. This night became known as the Purge of Sapporo, and was the beginning of the notorious Purgation War, also known as the Steamlock War. The Purgation War This war led to major improvement of technology, mainly concerning steam-powered devices, hence the war's name, as well as the first machines designed for aviation (airplanes and airships). Katsugan had a major role in this war, as he had gained control of the entire vanguarding army of Ezo and even Japan, and he led large scale attacks on the Seresian Empire. The war is devided into three phases. The first one is called the Purge of Ezo, and in this phase, lasting from 1809 to 1813, Ezo took care of all of its Seresian inhabitants. In the second phase, the Purge of the Empire, lasting from 1813 to 1824, the rest of the Empire of Greater Japan was cleansed of Seresian people. In the third and last phase, the Great Seresian War, which was the longest one, lasting from 1824 to 1878, the Yukidan Army invaded the Seresian Empire, planning to destroy the entire country, leaving nothing but mines, filled with Seresian slaves. The Meiji period (1878-1914) This period was one of peace, and it was home to the Meiji Restoration. This was the renewal of laws and such, and the reconstruction of the Empire of Japan, as it was recovering from the Steamlock War. This restoration turned out very successful, as the economy profited so much that Ezo had become richer than ever. However no war was fought in Greater Japan, the Yukidan Forces where still fighting their lightning wars in the Seresian Empire, which had been divided into three zones by then: the area colonized by the Sovyets in the west, the unconquered part of the Seresian Empire in the centre, and Colony Alpha to the east, which was the area conquered by the Reynaerdians. The Taisho period (1914-1939) By 1914, all of the Seresian Empire had been conquered by the Reynaerdians and the Sovyets, and the colonies clashed. This led to various conflicts between the two colonies, and eventually, as Reynaerdians and Sovyets had conflicts all over the world, it unchained the First World War. Ezo had established a barrier around itself, consisting of numerous battleships. Many naval battles between Russia and Ezo where fought in the Sea of Okhotsk during this time, and as the Kuril Islands, known to the Ezoans as the Chishima Archipelago, where inhabited by both Russians and Ezoans, ruled by Russia, but also being Holy Land of the Reynaerdians, many battles where fought on these islands as well. The Yukidan forces in Seresia had established a fixed front on the border between Ezoan colony and Russian colony. This war came to an end in 1926. The Showa period (1939-1989) As unrest was rising at an alarming pace in North America because of the conflict between Fukaroan America and the Reynaerdian American Federation (combined with Colony Beta), the Fukaro threatened to attack the Oriental Federation. However the Reynaerdian Americans refused to surrender, which led to a naval attack on Kushiro, Ezo. This unchained war between Ezo and the Fukaro, which escalated into the Second World War, which started in december 1939. This war lasted until 1945, when Ezo dropped world's first nuclear bomb, called Hakuyami no Hanketsu (泊闇の判決, Hakuyami's Judgment), on Kyushu, which was still in hands of the Fukaro. After this, he secured his victory by assuring that nobody could drop any more nuclear bombs. In the pacific ocean, anti-aircraft ships were stationed, armed with heavy gunnery and even countermissiles, and throughout China there were many anti-aircraft stations, securing Tibet. However, to be sure, many fallout shelters were built throughout Ezo. In 1971, the first Ezoan was sent into space, and in 1982, the first Ezoan space station was completed on earth. It lasted until 1987 for it to be disassembled, sent into orbit, and reassembled again. In 1988, around 300 Ezoans where sent to this station, in order to live there, as a means of progress towards space travel. The Heisei period (1989-2041) In 1989, after news of Europe being heavily bombed with nuclear weapons by unknown means, and of the colonies in Seresia being captured by Fukaroan forces from Tibet, the short-term Candle War was unleashed, a large scale nuclear bombing, and Kenji ordered the colonials in Seresia to destroy the entire country. But it was too late. The civil defense siren was sounded as a Fukaroan ballistic nuclear missile, the first of its kind, was headed for an unexpecting Ezo. High above its target, the missile split in several smaller bombs, each one targeting one of the large cities of Ezo, one of which was Sapporo. Heavy kamikaze planes were launched from the capital as countermissiles as a last resort, and the most of the Sapporoan population was evacuated into an underwater city, lying on the bottom of the Sapporo Bay. Ryūgū (竜宮, Dragon's Palace) as it was called, named after the mythological palace of the seagod O-Watatsumi, was a project started by Terazawa Hiroshi, capitalist and head of Terazawa Corporation, to serve as a place to seek comfortable shelter when a nuclear bombing would occur. As the bomb exploded high in the air, it didn't hit its target, but it nevertheless created a huge amount of destruction, as well as an enormous fallout. Ezo was blacked out, and covered in ashes, buildings collapsing from the gigantic shockwave. From this day on, while most other Ezoans lived in small shelters and some died of the explosion, most of the Sapporoan citizens were sentenced to a life under the sea. The Dragon Palace During the evacuation, which was quite chaotic due to the amount of surprise the bombing had caused, many people who got to Ryūgū hadn't paid for a home there at all. Inhumane as it would be to set them out of the city, they got a place to stay in the so-called Iron Town, which was the settlement around the underwater caverns that formed the mines that provided the city with its metals, where they were given a job to repay their debt. However, they grew increasingly dissatisfied with their 'pauper' image, and unrest arose. Nearing the end of the period of unsafe levels of radiation on the surface, the increasing feeling of freedom caused them to revolt in 2041. Terazawa, being the president of the City, who had appointed Murata Kaneo to be head of security, told him to subdue the uprising. So he tried, but nevertheless, one of the revolting paupers had managed to enter the Watatsumi Tower, in which Ryūgū's best and brightest lived, and so he murdered Terazawa Hiroshi, who became avenged by Gotou Junzou, one of the richest citizens of Ryūgū. This news spread like a wildfire, thus empowering the morale of the dissidents, encouraging the others, mostly the rich ones, to flee the city under the sea by means of the Morning City Bathyspheres, escape pods built to give way to the surface. Thus they floated in the metal spheres on the Sapporo Bay, looking at the bomb-torn Morning City. The Saisei period (2041-2129) As order was not present in the Morning City, several factions began to uprise. The most important was, of course, the Neoroyalists, led by Yukida Kenji from his considerably damaged palace, which was still stable enough to give shelter to Kenji's followers. The Neoroyalists sought to restore the country in it's former glory. However, they were not alone. Other factions included the Republicans, who wanted to rebuild the country without its former monarch, and who had emerged from some of the dissidents that had caused the revolt in Ryūgū; traditionalists, who blamed the destruction of Ezo on the fast technological development and chose to go back to primitive, traditional ways; and defeatists, who had accepted their country lying in ashes, and who just sought to survive and make their own living, mostly living in small groups, achieving their goals in rather forceful ways sometimes. Culture of Ezo Ezoan culture is very restricted to certain traditions, which, for example, oblige certain architectural aspects to a building that has a certain function, or certain clothing to a a certain person. These restrictions are there because of the old Ezoan saying "the strongest three has the deepest roots," meaning that traditions should be maintained in order to create a strong nation. This is reflected into the Kokutai, which means "body of the nation", which means that through unity, which is created by following the traditions, the nation will prevail. But, sometimes the aforementioned saying continues: "and the deepest roots make the longest branches," meaning that this tradition should be maintained by adapting it to the time, which leads to many modern devices that look as though created hundreds of years ago, as they are still made according to traditions. Clothing In Ezo clothing are an important thing. One cannot always wear whatever one likes, certainly not within certain functions. However, casual clothing also exists in Ezo, but those outfits are mostly altered versions of traditional clothing. Overall, Ezoan clothing is never simple, it always consists of several layers. This is due to two facts: the first one being the climate, which can be rather cold sometimes, and the second one that body exposure is something that should not be practised outside. The latter one varies according to the situation of course, an office requiring more layers than a pleasure district. The standard formal wear for men is called Sebiro Kimono, and is worn very often, ranging from attending a very important official event, to eating at a restaurant. It features the traditional male undergarments, the Pantsu (trunks), Shitagi (a white Gi) and Tabi socks. After this, one puts on the Uwagi, a very dark red Gi with two rows of decorative buttons and long sleeves, which could be called the equivalent of the dress shirt. Then comes the Hakama, a divided skirt, which is even darker than the Uwagi. The next thing to put on is the Dogi, which is a type of waistcoat, followed by Tebukuro (black leather gloves) and footwear. The latter consists of Kutsu, which are a type of shoes, and Kyahan, which are ornate shin guards, often depicting status of the wearer. The average man wears dark or black Kyahan. The current outfit is more often than not considered enough when inside (without the gloves), for example when attending a ball, as dancing in full dress could get a little hot. After this, the man puts on his Haori, which is a jacket, often featuring two family crests, one on the front of each shoulder. The last thing is the Obi, which is an ornate sash worn around the waist, featuring a type of suspended skirt, designed into two "tails". Many men, mostly middle class, combine the Sebiro with a sabou ((紗帽), a felt hat derived from the Korean gat, decorated with a hatband with mostly Ainu motives. This hat is never worn when sporting a topknot, though. On several occasions, the Keishin kimono is worn instead of the Sebiro, for example when attending official matters in court, or important spiritual matters. This kimono lacks kyahan, leaving the hakama loose, and replaces the short haori with a long haori, not tightened with an obi, which is instead underneath the haori. This kimono is most often combined with an Ezoan version of the mandarin hat, called the Shokuinbou, or official's hat. The military uniforms of Ezo are much like a Sebiro, but with shoulder pieces, and, of course, military decorations. It also features a sort of peaked kap called Kanbou, featuring a little dome-like top, for protection of the top-knot. The higher the officer's rank, the more ornate the uniform, featuring more golden ornaments and more ornate kyahan. Among the Ezoan nobility, the Kamishimo is often worn, which is essentially a Sebiro without jacket, but featuring elaborate shoulder pieces, bigger than the ones of the military uniform, as well as a type of cape over the right shoulder. Over the outer layer on the right shoulder, an ornate Ainu band is laid, running all the way to the upper leg, secured under the obi belt. Also, the long-sleeved Uwagi is replaced with a short-sleeved one, with golden decorations on it. The Kyahan are made of gilt metal most of the time, featuring red cords with tassels, and a Yukidan flame on the knee. The formal wear for women, on the other hand, varies much more. In general, it is called Kimono, and it has several varieties. The Furisode is a kimono with very long sleeves, almost touching the ground. It is considered one of the most beautiful kimono, lying emphasis on classical beauty. A more timid variant is the Tomesode, which is more like everyday formal wear, not to be mistaken for casual wear though. Frau 2.png|A Gobusode Frau 3.png|A Sodenashi Frau 4.png|A Furisode Höfling.png|A Teishin kimono In summer, the Gobusode is also worn, which is a kimono with half sleeves, only reaching the elbow, and without a suspende sleeve pouch. Most of the times, this is combined with evening gloves, though. The most bold version is the Sodenashi, which has no sleeves at all, and is a little shorter at the underside, because this outfit is mostly used when attending a ball, and it enables quick dancing movements. It is also often combined with evening gloves and a waving hairstyle. Most Ezoan women of middle and high class of society have a Hesodama, a type of piercing-like jewel worn in over the belly button. This is regarded the woman's personal treasure, and is regarded off-limits for other people in public, except in bathing sites of course. Aside from all this formal wear, casual wear also exists in Ezo, but it goes by roughly the same principles as the formal wear. For example, a Shitagi is still worn by men, even when dressed in casual wear, and as little as possible skin is shown, most often head and arms. More often than not, men still wear simple kyahan and gloves. Mann 2.png Mann 3.png Mann 4.png Mann 6.png Cuisine Ezoans mainly eat warm rise based dishes, often accompanied by countless small warm dishes, like gyouza dumplings or duck breast. Among the main dishes, served in a bowl, are dishes like the Karedon, which is a sweet chili-based curry rice bowl with roast onions, or the Jimamidon, a peanut-sauce rice bowl with various pieces of meat. This main course is often preceded by either clear soup, miso soup or udon soup. Desserts include Matcha and black sesame-flavored kakigori, which is flavored shaved ice, various mochi ricecakes, Kasutera spongecake, often with Ezoan chocolate (choukaren), or simply a bowl of lychee. Sushi is among the few cold dishes in Ezo, and is reserved for celebrations. The presence of so many warm dishes, as opposed to the many cold dishes in Japan, can be explained by the relatively cold climate of Ezo. An Ezoan kaiseki, which consists of a nine course dinner, is the most formal way of dining in Ezo. As the consumption of meat in Ezo is forbidden from dawn till dusk, a kaiseki should be after the sun has set, when the spirits of the animals have gone to sleep, so they can't watch their own meat being eaten. The first course is an appetizer, typically dumplings like gyoza, but often also some other bite-sized dish, as long as it's warm. It is eaten with wooden, often lacquered, chopsticks. The second course is a small amount of sushi, mostly three or five rolls on a small wooden tray. The third course is a soup, which can vary from clear to miso, with or without noodles, served in an earthenware lidded bowl with a ceramic spoon on top. The fourth course is a fish course, consisting of a grilled fish, cut in pieces. The fifth course is meant to clean the palate, and consists of a bowl with vegetables laying in vinegar. It is the last course eaten with the wooden chopsticks, which are changed to metal ones, mostly tin or silver, after the course is finished. Then comes the sixth course, or main course, which is a rather substantial lidded bowl of rice with meat, typically game, however pork or beef are also common. Jimamidon is a common dish, but not too popular with the more adventurous people. After this course, the metal chopsticks are taken away, for the seventh course, a dairy course, is eaten with a slender, long spoon, made from porcelain. This course typically consists of some sort of cream cheese, yogurt, or ranraku (Japanese: 卵酪; a type of Ezoan egg custard) , and was originally meant to relieve the eater from the spicy taste the main course had left. The eighth course is the actual dessert, which may be anmitsu (agar jelly and fruit), mochi (rice cakes), daifuku (rice cakes typically filled with azuki paste), botamochi (azuki rice cakes), yokan (agar jelly cubes), kasutera (sponge cake), or, if the previous dish hasn't had any custard, ranrakuban (custard buns). Gradually desserts from across Reynaerdia became more and more accepted, like german Black Forest cake or finnish blueberry pie. This course is eaten with ornate porcelain chopsticks. The ninth and last course is the tea course, in which green tea is served, often with a small dry confection, like a higashi cake. Street food is a very popular sight in Ezo, as the cold climate requires for much food to burn in order to stay warm, even on the street. Busy streets like Hanagawa alley in Sapporo have many food stalls, selling their foods in bamboo bowls or the like. Among the most popular street foods are: Korokke, which are a type of potatoe croquettes; Ramen, noodle soup; Jagayaki, a type of potatoe fries, often served with an egg yolk sauce called ran'outare; Takoyaki, fried octopus balls; Dango, skewered mochi dumplings; Okonomiyaki, a pancake containing a variety of ingredients; Tomorokoshi, skewered corn with miso paste; Harumaki, spring rolls; Karepan, a bun filled with Ezoan curry (like in the Karedon) and sometimes meat; Onsen-tamago, eggs that are slowly boiled, giving them a custard-like texture (originally boiled in natural hot springs, hence the name); Omusubi, rice balls; and Yakisoba, fried wheat noodles. Sometimes, whole Bentou lunch boxes are sold at street. Drinks in Ezo include tea, alcoholic beverages and cold drinks. The most common tea in Ezo is plain sencha tea, and matcha for the aristocracy, however Ezoan tea knows numerous variations, like Genmaicha (brown rice), Matsucha (jasmine-scented tea), Oryuucha (oolong tea) or Gyokuro (jade dew). Ezoan mugicha is a cold barley tea, often flavored with a little bit of mizuage and yuzu lemon. Alcoholic drinks mainly include sake, in its many varieties, like the orthodox Kimotozake, unfiltered Nimorizake, or the low-alcohol somewhat sweet Amazake, but another well known Ezoan beverage is Mugizake, a type of barley-beer, with a golden colour. A stronger, distilled beverage is Shuuchou, a liquor often brewed from barley, potatoes, buckwheat or rice. This liquor can be served in several ways, including mixed with tea, warm, or neat. Umeshu, a type of plum wine, is also widely known in Ezo. Cold drinks, mainly reserved for the summer of course, include the aforementioned mugicha, rokaijiru (aloe vera juice), zakurojiru (pomegranate juice) or other fruit juice-based drinks. An Ezo-only drink is Koraku, a kola nut and mizuame based drink, which is very sweet. It is often drank before nocturnal festivities, as it helps the drinker keeping awake, because of its high levels of caffeine. There are various plants indigenous to Ezo that are used for consumption, which are strangely enough very rare in surrounding countries, but present in faraway regions. One of these plants is the Koukoumami, which is a small Ezoan variant of the cocoa bean, used for the production of the expensive Ezo chocolate (choukaren). Another one is the Kozaya plant, which is a far cousin of the vanilla orchid, sometimes used as a condiment for sweets, for example in kasutera, but it is primarily the base for Kozayajuu, which is a mixture of an extract of the Kozaya and milk, which is served cold, sometimes flavored with low-quality matcha. The aforementioned Koraku is made from Ezoan kola nuts, called Koramami, small black nuts that contain caffeine. Customs Ezoan society places great emphasis on social or military rank, especially on respect towards superiors. People of a certain rank are expected to show this to the people around them, most notably by wearing certain clothing. Someone who wears formal clothing is expected to own considerable wealth, specified by, for example, their hair. Someone with his hair in a top knot is thought to be richer, and of higher rank, than a man with his hair combed backwards. It is known that sometimes, nobles dress in civilian clothing, most often a Sebiro, to catch a breath from their responsibilities. When this "rank-lowering" is practised, the surrounding people are expected to, even when they know the practitioner's actual rank, treat them as the civilians they dress like, unless the practitioner explicitly asks not to do so. Social relationship, or even friendship, between people of various status is not an uncommon thing in Ezo. However, it is most often coming from the higher one of the two, regarded an act of generosity towards the lower one. Gender equality is theoretically not present in Ezo. Females are regarded subordinate to males, but this not really expressed that way. According to Ezoan customs, a woman needs to be humble and respectful towards a man, and in return, she gets treated by him as an equal, or even superior, person. This started as, like with the relation between different ranks, an act of generosity, but soon became a common norm. An Ezoan saying goes: "A true lady acts like a servant to be treated as an empress." Thus, gender equality is present in Ezo in a way. Religion The main religion in Ezo is the Kamuyir-branch of Shintoism, which is a polytheist religion. It countless gods, as well as small spirits of trees and the like, but is focused on an ennead of Okami (great gods). The first Okami is Amaterasu-Okami, the goddess of the sun, who is as beautiful and shining as the sundisc itself. Her brother is Tsukiyomi-Okami, the god of the moon, who is less glistening as his sister, but still quite lustrous. Another important role is played by Inari-Okami, the goddess of the foxes. Often portrayed as a dragon is Watatsumi-Okami, the god of the oceans and seas, who controls the tides with his tide-jewels. The god of fire is Kagutsuchi-Okami, who is constantly on fire. Another important god is Hachiman-Okami, the god of war, and the patron of the Ezoan army. Uzume-Okami is the goddess of dance and music, and represents the other fine arts as well. Kannon-Okami, also known archaicly as Kwannon-Okami, is the thousand armed goddess of mercy. The last Okami is Hakuyami-Okami, who is unique to Ezo, the twilight king of heavenly might. He represents the evil within every good person, and the might of people over other people, and he has his own subdivision in magic, focusing on destruction. He also is the patron of forbidden pleasures, and is somewhat of a satan-like figure in Kamuyir Shinto. Also a very important divine figure is Amida Nyourai, who is a monk-like god of enlightenment itself. He is always portrayed sitting in za-zen on a lotus, meditating like the monks of which he is the patron. He is seen in every big shrine, and every monastery or temple, and he is the very last word in wisdom and meditation. Other important gods are the brothers of the sky, Fuujin, the god of the wind, who unleashes the four winds from his wind-bag, and Raijin, the god of thunder, who beats his thunder drums, accompanied by his loyal wolf-like lightning beast, Raijuu, who flies around, often covered in blue fire or lightning. Government Government system: Benevolent autocracy Head of state: King The Yukidan Laws are regulated by the Royal Chancellor (Daijin), who is inferior to king Kenji, but superior to two other officials, the Great Minister of the Right (Udaijin) and the Great Minister of the Left (Sadaijin). The former is the superior of four ministers, the Minister of the Military (Hyobujin), the Minister of Justice (Gyobujin), the Minister of Treasury (Oburajin) and the Minister of the Royal Household (Kunaijin). The latter of the Great Ministers is also superior to four ministers, the Minister of Popular Affairs (Minbujin), the Minister of Ceremonies (Shikibujin), the Minister of Civil Administration (Jibujin) and the Minister of the Center (Nakatsukasajin). Each minister controls numerous law officials. Language Ezoan Japanese is a lot like modern Japanese as we know it, although it has a few differences, for example in pronunciation, but also in expressions or certain words. Pronunciation Ezoan Japanese shows influences of different kinds in its pronunciation. For example, it shows an influence of Classical Japanese from around the 16th century, by pronouncing the E like "ye" when following an E or another vowel, or when it's the first letter of a word, like in the Japanese word Yen, which is actually "en" in modern Japanese. Another influence is one from Korea, where there are words ending on an L, in the case of japanese verbs ending on "suru". This is pronounced as "sur-l" (with an alveolar R and alveolar L) or simply as "sul" in Ezoan Japanese, for example in "to study", which is "benkyou suru" in Japanese, whereas an Ezoan would pronounce it as "benkyou sur-l" or "benkyou sul". The next thing that differs a little bit from standard Japanese is the letter Z, pronounced in Ezo like "dz", rather than just "z". Expressions One thing very common in Ezo but not in Japan are things like greetings on the street. Of course, when in Sapporo, one would not greet every person in the crowd, but when Ezoans travel in small groups or alone, they greet everyone they encounter. Mostly this is done with words like "heiya", "yo", or "aisatsu". The first, "heiya" is of Ainu origin, the second, "yo" of Japanese origin, and "aisatsu" literally means greeting in Japanese. Kokuji Kokuji are Kanji characters from Ezo, not otherwise present in for example Japan or China, unless in a way referring to an Ezoan thing. Notable people from Ezo *Yukida Kenji, king of Ezo *Yukida Hakuji, prince and brother of the king *Murata Kaneo, member of the Yukida Dynasty *Murata Naoko, member of the Yukida Dynasty *Dewa Nobuhara, member of the Yukida Dynasty *Dewa Tsunehara, member of the Yukida Dynasty *Hasegawa Akira, member of the Yukida Dynasty *Matsudaira Katamori, member of the Yukida Dynasty *Matsudaira Sadaaki, member of the Yukida Dynasty *Kiriyama Kazuo, royal spymaster (commander of the royal assassins) *Kashimura Natsumi, famous singer, apprehended for conspiracy with Seresians in 1878 Trivia * Ezo is based on the Republic of Ezo, which was the name of Hokkaido (Ezo's real-life counterpart) before it became part of Japan. * The history around the Bakumatsu period is based on real-life history of the Nanban trade that was established in Japan, from which they came to suffer later on, resulting in the fact that the gates of Japan were closed for outsiders, a principle called Sakoku, which became the name of the Little World Sakoku period. * The events in the Sakoku period were heavily based on those in nazi-Germany, with the Seresian genocide being based on the Holocaust and the Purge of Sapporo on the Crystal Night. * The Ezoan hat called sabou (紗帽) is said to be derived from the Korean gat, even though in reality it is based on a western fedora.